nasty

nasty
\ \ [14] Nasty, now such a widespread term of disapproval, is not that ancient a word in English, and it is not too certain where it came from. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was often spelled naxty, and this, together with one early 17th-century example of nasky, has suggested some connection with Swedish dialect naskugdirty, nasty’. And a link has also been proposed with Dutch nestigdirty’, which may denote etymologically ‘made dirty like a bird’s nest’. ‘Dirty’ was the original sense of the English adjective; the more general ‘unpleasant’ did not begin to emerge until the end of the 17th century.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Nasty — Single par Janet Jackson extrait de l’album Control Face B You ll Never Find (A Love Like Mine) Sortie 15 Avril 1986 Enregistrement septembre 1985 Flyte …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nasty — may refer to: Nasty (song), by Janet Jackson Nasty (album), by Cameo Nasty (The Young Ones), an episode of The Young Ones Nasty , a song by The Damned, created for the Young Ones episode, released as a B side of the single Thanks for the Night… …   Wikipedia

  • Nasty — Nas ty (n[.a]s t[y^]), a. [Compar. {Nastier} (n[.a]s t[i^]*[ e]r); superl. {Nastiest}.] [For older nasky; cf. dial. Sw. naskug, nasket.] 1. Offensively filthy; very dirty, foul, or defiled; disgusting; nauseous. [1913 Webster] 2. Hence, loosely:… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • nasty — [adj1] disgusting, offensive awful, beastly, bum*, dirty, disagreeable, fierce, filthy, foul, gross, grubby, hellish, horrible, horrid, icky*, impure, loathsome, lousy, malodorous, mephitic, murderous*, nauseating, noisome, noxious, objectionable …   New thesaurus

  • nasty — [nas′tē] adj. nastier, nastiest [ME < ? or akin to Du nestig, dirty] 1. very dirty, filthy 2. offensive in taste or smell; nauseating 3. morally offensive; indecent 4. very unpleasant; objectionable [nasty weather] …   English World dictionary

  • nasty — (adj.) c.1400, foul, filthy, dirty, unclean, of unknown origin; perhaps [Barnhart] from O.Fr. nastre miserly, envious, malicious, spiteful, shortened form of villenastre infamous, bad, from vilein villain + astre, pejorative suffix, from L. aster …   Etymology dictionary

  • nasty — ► ADJECTIVE (nastier, nastiest) 1) unpleasant, disgusting, or repugnant. 2) spiteful, violent, or bad tempered. 3) likely to cause or having caused harm; dangerous or serious: a nasty bang on the head. ► NOUN (pl. nasties) informal ▪ …   English terms dictionary

  • nasty — index bad (offensive), bitter (penetrating), harmful, heinous, loathsome, malignant, objectionable …   Law dictionary

  • nasty — *dirty, filthy, squalid, foul Analogous words: *coarse, gross, vulgar, obscene, ribald: tainted, contaminated, polluted, defiled (see CONTAMINATE): indelicate, indecent, unseemly, improper, *indecorous …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • -nasty — [nas′tē] combining form forming nouns a condition of plant growth by a (specified) means or in a (specified) direction [epinasty] …   English World dictionary

  • nasty — nas|ty S2 [ˈna:sti US ˈnæsti] adj comparative nastier superlative nastiest ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(behaviour)¦ 2¦(person)¦ 3¦(experience/situation)¦ 4¦(sight/smell etc)¦ 5¦(injury/illness)¦ 6¦(substance)¦ 7 a nasty piece of work ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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